


Time Alters Not.

by RedStarFiction



Category: Outlander & Related Fandoms, Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-12
Updated: 2017-04-12
Packaged: 2018-10-18 02:11:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10607142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedStarFiction/pseuds/RedStarFiction
Summary: A drabble around LJG and Jamie - another love story from DG which, for all it is predominantly one sided, is true and beautiful and outlines the best parts of the human soul.





	

John flinched as his eyes adjusted to the bright light and Fraser’s form came into focus. The man had seemed to get bigger each time John met with him but this time he found Fraser to be smaller than his memory had served and it startled him more than he cared to admit even to himself.

The thick auburn hair that John had longed to sink his fingers into was now more a russet gold, paled with the passage of time but still thick and full, the curls held back with a thin strip of leather. Fraser’s face was a deeper tan than it had been, the lines of maturity set in cheek, jaw and brow more prominent lending the Scot an air of even greater authority than he had carried previously.

A gust of wind threatened to take the hat from his head and John watched as one huge hand rose to hold it in place, the fourth finger missing but so neatly stitched that only someone who had studied those beautiful hands in great detail would notice without a double glance.

John knew that the finger was gone of course but seeing it still gave him a jolt and he wondered what had become of the vacant digit – no doubt Mrs Fraser would have seen it properly disposed of but the thought of it being thrown carelessly aside still tormented John. Even if it was broken and bloody and finally removed, any part of James Fraser was as precious to John as his own – if not more so.

Fraser’s eyes darted amongst the passengers, aboard the boat, looking for John but John shrank back, not yet ready to cease his own appraisals. The older man’s clothes were neat and reserved, practical in the chill of the autumn morning and much like the man himself in their understated handsomeness.

John felt his pulse quicken as he ran his eyes over the full lips, perhaps thinned slightly with age but still curved like a crescent moon, a small smile hiding in the corners ready to peek out at any moment just as John remembered.

He sighed slightly and looked down at his boots. They were both older now, and by all reckoning Fraser could perhaps even be called an old man, but somehow he had failed to notice his friend ageing before and the realisation wounded him in a way that John could not quite articulate.

“JOHN!”

The soft Scots burr reached his ears and like a flower turning into the light, John looked up and found Fraser smiling at him, blue eyes creased with joy, waving his unmarked hand enthusiastically.

John waved back but his heart was pounding against his ribs like a drum. Nothing had ever been able to prepare him for those eyes, the sharp blue focus of them, the colour of smooth oceans beneath a cloudless blue sky, stretching for miles and miles into a horizon that John wished to throw himself toward with the abandon of a drowning man.

“JAMIE!”

The word burst from his lips and John’s smile flourished. He was away from his property, his family, his treasured son and yet in that moment had anyone cared to ask him, John Grey would have sworn that he was home.


End file.
